STATEMENT  OF  FACTS 


IN  RELATION  TO 

THE  ORIGIN,  PROGRESS,  AND  PROSPECTS 

OP  THE 

NEW-YORK  AND  HARLjEM 

RAIL  ROAD  COMPANY. 


STATE  3IE  NT  OF  FACTS 


IN  RELATION  TO 


THE  ORIGIN,  PROGRESS,  AND  PROSPECTS 


XEW-YORK  AND  HARLJ3M 


RAIL  ROAD  COMPANY. 


NEW- YORK : 


PRINTED  BV  CEORGE  P.  SCOTT  &  CO.,  ANN,  CORNER  OF  NASSAU-STREET 


1833. 


oV  t  ;L4>7  1         &  a  x  <?  «T 


•  N5S2J 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 

\ 


http://archive.org/details/statementoffactsOOnewy 


STATEMENT  OF  FACTS. 


The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  New- York  and  Harlaem 
Rail  Road  Company  witnessing  with  surprise  and  regret  the 
active  efforts  now  making  to  prejudice  the  public  mind  against 
the  enterprise  committed  to  their  management,  deem  it  due  to 
the  stockholders  and  to  their  fellow-citizens  to  exhibit  a  state- 
ment of  the  origin,  progress,  and  prospects  of  the  company. 
Conscious  of  the  correctness  of  their  own  motives,  and  rely- 
ing on  the  good  sense  of  the  public,  they  respectfully  invite 
a  dispassionate  examination  of  the  present  statement,  in  the 
full  confidence  that  it  will  be  fairly  judged  by  their  fellow- 
citizens. 

In  the  year  1830  a  number  of  public-spirited  citizens,  ob- 
serving the  rapid  growth  and  extension  of  this  metropolis,  be- 
came impressed  with  the  necessity  of  devising  some  means  of 
increasing  the  facilities  of  communication  between  the  inhabi- 
tants of  distant  parts  of  the  island  on  which  the  city  is  built. 
They  perceived  the  whole  population  of  this  great  and  grow- 
ing city  increasing  at  the  rate  of  ten  thousand  souls  annuallv, 
hemmed  in  by  two  broad  rivers,  upon  a  strip  of  land,  little  more 
than  a  mile  wide  and  fourteen  miles  long.  In  order  to  remedy 
the  difficulties  thus  created  by  the  narrow  and  insular  shape 
and  position  of  our  city,  upwards  of  seventy  unwieldy  omnibus 
coaches,  drawn  by  more  than  two  hundred  horses,  had  already 
commenced  the  business  of  transporting  our  inhabitants  from 
their  places  of  business  to  their  places  of  residence  ;  distances 


1 


varying  from  one  to  three  miles.  The  amazing  efficacy,  utility 
comfort,  and  cheapness,  of  iron  rail  roads,  already  exhibited 
in  Europe  and  America,  forcibly  suggested  the  plan  of  similar 
improvements  upon  one  or  more  of  the  spacious  avenues  by 
which  our  city  is  intersected,  extending  northward  to  the  Har- 
la?m  river.  To  carry  this  project  into  execution,  an  association 
of  these  individuals  applied  to  the  state  Legislature  to  be  in- 
corporated ;  and  although  the  application  was  then  zealously 
resisted  by  several  of  their  fellow-citizens,  who  have  since  be- 
come its  warmest  supporters,  the  Legislature,  enlightened  by 
the  experience  of  other  cities,  in  "April,  1831,  incorporated  the 
Company,  with  power  to  extend  a  rail  road  from  the  Harlem 
river,  southerly,  to  Twenty-third-street,  then  the  northern  limit 
of  the  paved  part  of  the  city. 

Before  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature  public  opinion 
had  undergone  a  rapid  change,  mainly  induced  by  the  triumph- 
ant success  of  the  rail  road  introduced  into  the  city  of  Balti- 
more ;  so  much  so,  that  the  Legislature,  upon  the  petition  of 
this  Company,  and  against  which  no  remonstrance  was  made, 
granted  them  power  to  continue  their  road  into  the  compact 
part  of  the  city,  provided  the  City  Corporation  should  con- 
sent. The  Legislature,  however,  perceiving  the  importance 
of  this  work,  and  that  it  was  destined  to  become  the  first  great 
link  in  a  chain  of  internal  communications,  centering  in  the 
city  of  New-York,  in  order  to  insure  its  speedy  completion, 
imposed  upon  the  Company  the  obligation  to  finish  at  least 
four  miles  of  their  road,  above  Prince-street,  before  laying  the 
rail*  SOUth  of  that  line. 

Furnished  with  this  charter,  the  Company  appeared  before 
th<'  ("itv  Corporation,  and  solicited  their  permission  to  proceed 
in  the  work.  The  members  of  that  honourable  body,  elected 
from  every  section  of  tin*  City,  examined  the  project  with 
tin'  most  rigid  and  jealous  scrutiny,  and  it  may  be  safel\ 
asserted,  that  every  possible  doubt  which  the  most  scrupulous 

caution  could  create,  was  then  suggested  ami  satisfactorily  re- 
moved,   The  opponents  of  the  measure  were  expressly  invited 

to  frame  tin*  most  rigid  clauses,  Which  their  ingenuity  could 

devise,  to  guard  ihe  public  interest  and  safety  ;  and  the  Com 


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pany  received  the  assent  of  the  Common  Council,  coupled  with 
conditions  dictated  and  prepared  by  a  member  of  that  body, 
distinguished  at  all  times  for  his  intelligence  and  integrity^ 
and  peculiarly  at  that  time  for  his  zealous  opposition  to  this 
measure. 

The  limitations  thus  imposed  on  the  powers  of  the  Company 
will  now  be  stated,  and  to  this  part  of  our  report  we  solicit 
the  particular  examination  of  the  public. 

By  the  act  of  the  Legislature,  incorporating  the  New-York 
and  Harlaem  Rail  Road  Company,  passed  April  25th,  1831, 
it  was  provided,  that  M  nothing  in  the  said  act  shall  be  deemed 
to  authorize  the  said  Corporation  to  construct  or  use  their 
single  or  double  rail  road  or  way  across  or  along  any  of 
the  streets  or  avenues,  as  designated  on  the  map  of  the  city  of 
New-York,  whether  such  streets  or  avenues  shall  have  been 
opened  or  not,  without  the  consent  of  the  Mayor,  Aldermen, 
and  Commonalty  of  said  city,  who  are  hereby  authorized  to 
grant  permission  to  the  said  Corporation  to  construct  their  said 
rail  road  or  way  across  or  along  said  streets  or  avenues,  or  pro- 
hibit them  from  constructing  the  same ;  and  after  the  same 
shall  be  constructed,  to  regulate  the  time  and  manner  of  using 
the  same,  and  the  speed  with  which  carriages  shall  be  permit- 
ted to  move  on  the  same  or  any  part  thereof ;  and  nothing  in 
this  act  contained  shall  prevent  the  Legislature  from  granting 
to  any  other  corporation,  or  persons,  the  right  of  constructing 
a  rail  road  or  roads  parallel  with  the  one  herein  mentioned,  or 
any  part  of  it,  on  any  lands,  street,  road,  or  avenue,  not  oc- 
cupied by  the  rail  road  or  way  hereby  authorized,  or  the  righl 
of  crossing  or  intersecting  the  same  at  any  point  or  points 
without  making  compensation  for  injuries  sustained  thereby." 

The  city  authorities  granted  their  consent  in  the  terms  fol- 
lowing : 

"  1st,  Be  it  ordained,  fee.  that  the  New-York  and  Harlsem 
Rail  Road  ( Company  be,  and  they  are  hereby  permitted  to  con- 
struct and  lay  down,  in  pursuance  of  their  act  of  incorporation, 
a  double  or  single  track  or  rail  road,  or  rail  way,  along  the 
Fourth  avenue,  from  Twenty-third-street  to  the  EJarJsem  river, 
in  conformity  to  a  map  now  on  file  in  the   Register's  ofiiee, 


6 


and  a  branch  thereof  along  One  hundred  and  twenty-fifth- 
street,  from  the  Fourth  avenue  to  the  Hudson  river,  provided 
that  the  width  of  such  double  rail  road  or  way  shall  not  ex- 
ceed twenty-four  feet. 

"  2d.  And  be  it  further  ordained,  that  at  any  time  after  the 
construction  of  the  aforesaid  rail  ways,  by  the  said  New- York 
and  Harla?m  Rail  Road  Company,  it  shall  appear  to  the  Mayor, 
Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  city  of  New-York,  that  the 
said  rail  ways,  or  any  part  thereof,  shall  constitute  an  obstruc- 
tion or  impediment  to  the  future  regulation  of  the  city,  or  the 
ordinary  uses  of  any  street  or  avenue,  of  which  the  said  Mayor, 
Aldermen,  and  Commonalty,  shall  be  the  sole  judges,  the  said 
Rail  Road  Company,  or  the  Directors  thereof,  shall,  on  the 
requisition  of  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty, 
forthwith  provide  a  remedy  for  the  same,  satisfactory  to  the 
said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty ;  they  shall  within 
one  month  after  the  requisition  proceed  to  remove  such  rail 
way,  or  other  obstruction  or  impediment,  and  to  replace  the 
street  or  avenue  in  as  good  condition  as  it  was  before  the  said 
rail  way  was  laid  down  ;  and  should  the  said  Directors  decline 
or  neglect  to  obey  such  requisition,  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen, 
and  Commonalty,  may,  upon  the  expiration  of  the  time  limited 
in  such  notices,  cause  the  obstruction  or  impediment  to  be  re- 
moved, and  the  avenue  or  streets  restored  as  aforesaid,  at  the 
expense  of  the  Rail  Road  Company. 

"  3d.  That  the  right  of  regulating  the  description  of  power 
to  be  used  in  propelling  carriages  on  and  along  said  rail  ways, 
and  the  speed  of  the  same,  as  well  as  all  other  power,  reserved 
to  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty,  by  the  act  of 
incorporation  of  the  said  Company,  or  any  part  thereof,  be, 
and  the  same  are  hereby  expressly  retained  and  reserved. 

"  4th.  That  it  shall  especially  be  incumbent  on  the  said 
Harlaem  Rail  Road  Company,  at  their  own  cost,  to  construct 
stone  arches  and  bridges  for  all  the  cross  streets  now  or  here- 
after to  be  made,  (which  will  be  intersected  by  the  embankment 
or  excavations  of  the  said  rail  road,)  and  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  Common  Council,  the  public  convenience  requires  to 
be  arched  or  bridged  ;  and  also  to  make  such  embankments  or 


7 


excavations  as  in  the  opinion  of  the  Common  Council  may  be 
required,  to  make  the  passage  over  the  rail  road  and  embank- 
ments at  the  intersected  cross  streets  easy  and  convenient  for 
all  the  purposes  for  which  streets  and  roads  are  usually  put  to ; 
and  also  that  the  said  Company  shall  make,  at  their  own  like 
cost  and  charges,  all  such  drains  and  sewers  as  their  embank- 
ments or  excavations  may,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Common 
Council,  make  necessary;  all  which  work  to  be  done  under 
the  like  requisitions,  and  under  like  liabilities  as  in  the  second 
section  of  this  ordinance  mentioned.  And  further,  that  the 
said  Company  shall  make  their  rail  road  path  from  time  to 
time  conform  to  what  may  hereafter  be  the  regulation  of  the 
avenue  and  road  through  which  said  rail  road  passes. 

"  5th.  That  it  shall  be  incumbent  on  the  said  Harlsem  Rail 
Road  Company  to  commence  their  said  rail  road  in  the  respec- 
tive times  allowed  for  that  purpose  in  their  act  of  incorporation, 
and  unless  they  commence  and  complete  the  same  in  the  pe- 
riods of  time  for  the  said  commencement  and  completion  in 
said  incorporation  specified,  that  then  the  consent  of  the  Com- 
mon Council  and  all  the  powers  and  privileges  given  in  the 
ordinance  shall  cease  and  be  null  and  void. 

"  6th.  That  in  case  the  said  rail  road  should  not  be  com- 
pleted within  the  time  for  that  purpose  in  their  charter  men- 
tioned, or  if  at  any  time  after  the  construction  of  the  said  rail 
road,  the  same  should  be  discontinued  or  not  kept  up  and  in 
repair  as  a  good  and  sufficient  rail  road,  that  then  the  strip  of 
land  to  be  taken  for  the  said  rail  road  should  be  thrown  open 
and  become  a  part  of  the  street  or  public  avenues,  without  any 
assessment  on  the  owners  of  the  adjoining  lands  or  the  public 
therefor. 

"  7th.  That  no  building  shall  be  erected  on  the  said  strip  of 
land  to  be  taken  for  the  said  rail  road  ;  and  that  such  a  rail- 
ing, or  other  erections,  shall  be  made  on  the  outer  edges  of 
the  embankments  or  rail  road  path,  and  also  such  railing  or 
fences  on  the  edges  of  the  excavations,  as  the  Common  Coun- 
cil shall,  from  time  to  time,  deem  necessary  to  prevent  accidents 
and  loss  of  lives  to  our  fellow-citizens. 

"  8th.  That  this  ordinance  shall  not  be  considered  as  bind- 


ing  on  the  Common  Council,  nor  shall  the  said  ordinance  go 
into  effect,  until  the  said  Harlajm  Rail  Road  Company  shall 
first  duly  execute  (under  their  corporate  seal)  such  an  instru- 
ment in  writing,  promising-,  covenanting,  and  engaging,  on 
their  part  and  behalf,  to  stand  to,  abide  by  and  perform  all  the 
conditions  and  requirements  in  the  ordinance  contained,  as  the 
Mayor  and  the  Counsel  of  the  Board  shall  by  their  certificate 
approve,  and  not  until  such  instrument  shall  be  filed,  so  certi- 
fied in  the  Comptroller's  office  of  this  city* 

"  Passed  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen  December  16,  1831. 

*  Passed  by  the  Board  of  Assistants  December  19,  1831. 

"  Approved  by  the  Mayor  December  22,  1S31." 

On  the  first  of  February,  1832,  the  following  resolution 
passed  in  Common  Council, 

^Resolved,  That  the  New-York  and  Harlaem  Rail  Road 
Company  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized,  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  ground  owned  by  the  Common  Council  over  which 
the  line  of  said  rail  road  is  ordered  to  be  constructed,  and  that 
they  be  permitted  to  use  the  same  during  the  continuance  of 
the  present  charter,  for  the  purpose  of  a  rail  road,  and  that 
only ;  and  when  they  cease  so  to  use  it,  it  shall  revert  to  the 
Corporation,  provided  always,  that  the  said  land  shall  be  so 
used  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  use  of  the  cross  streets,  and  on 
condition,  however,  that  if  the  said  Corporation  shall  not  com- 
mence the  said  rail  road,  and  complete  the  same,  within  the 
time  limited  by  their  charter,  then  the  privilege  hereby  granted 
shall  cease  and  be  void. 

"  Adopted  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  Board  of  Assist- 
ants, January  30,  1832. 

"  Approved  by  the  Mayor,  February  1,  1832." 

Upon  a  subsequent  application  to  the  Legislature,  by  the 
New-York  and  Harlaem  Rail  Road  Company,  the  following 
Act  was  passed,  April  6,  1832. 

"  The  People  of  the  State  of  New- York,  represented  in  Se- 
nate and  Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows : — 

"  <$>  1.  The  President  and  Directors  of  the  New-York  and 
Harlaem  Road  Company  are  hereby  authorized  and  empower- 


9 

ed,  with  the  permission  of  the  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Common- 
alty of  the  City  of  New-York,  to  extend  their  rail  road  along 
the  fourth  avenue  to  fourteenth  street  in  said  city,  and  through 
such  other  streets  in  the  said  city  as  the  Mayor,  Aldermen  and 
Commonalty  of  said  city  may  from  time  to  time  permit,  sub- 
ject to  such  prudential  rules  as  are  prescribed  by  this  Act,  and 
as  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  in  Common 
Council  convened,  may  prescribe. 

"  §  2.  The  President  and  Directors  of  said  Company  are 
hereby  authorized  to  increase  their  capital  stock  to  such  sum 
as  may  be  necessary  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  and  to  issue 
scrip  therefor;  but  their  capital  stock  shall  not  in  the  whole  ex- 
ceed the  sum.of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

"  $  3.  After  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  said  Mayor,  Alder- 
men and  Commonalty,  the  said  Company  shall  not  construct 
any  rail-way  in  any  street  of  the  City  of  New-York  below 
Prince-street,  until  they  shall  have  completed  four  miles  of 
their  road  above  said  street. 

"  §  4.  No  carriage  or  vehicle  shall  be  drawn  or  propelled 
by  any  other  than  horse  power,  through  any  street  of  said  city 
south  of  fourteenth  street. 

"  §  5.  Every  carriage  or  vehicle,  drawn  or  propelled  on  said 
rail  road,  shall  be  provided  with  suitable  safe-guards,  project- 
ing in  a  descending  direction  near  the  surface  of  the  rails,  in 
front  of  each  forward  wheel,  in  such  manner  as  to  ensure  the 
greatest  safety  against  accidents. 

"§6.  No  such  carriage  or  vehicle  shall  be  drawn  or  pro- 
pelled at  a  greater  speed  than  at  the  rate  of  five  miles  an  hour 
in  any  street  of  said  city  below  fourteenth  street. 

"  State  of  New-York,  ) 
Secretary's  Office.  } 

"I  certify  the  preceding  to  be  a  true  copy  of  an  original 
Act  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State  on  file  at  this  office. 

"ARCHIBALD  CAMPBELL, 

"Deputy  Secretary." 

"Albany,  April  6,  1832." 
On  the  tenth  of  May,  the  following  resolutions  passed  in 
Common  Council. 

2 


10 


Resolved,  That  the  New-York  and  Harlaem  Rail  Road 
Company  be  permitted,  and  the  Common  Council  hereby  con- 
sent, so  far  as  their  rights  extend,  that  the  said  Company  ma 
extend  their  rails  southerly  from  the  north  line  of  twenty-thir*. 
street  to  Prince-street,  (subject,  however,  to  the  same  condi- 
tions and  restrictions  which  the  Common  Council  heretofore 
imposed  upon  the  said  Company,  in  respect  to  that  part  of  the 
road  above  twenty  third-street.)   That  the  said  Company  may 
forthwith  proceed  to  lay  down  a  single  track  through  thefourth 
avenue,  (south  of  twenty-third  street)  Union  place,  Blooming- 
dale  road,  and  Broadway,  and  another  single  track  through 
the  Bowery,  both  as  far  south  as  Prince-street ;  and  after  two 
months'  use  of  a  single  track  upon  the  whole  distance,  south 
of  twenty-third  street  on  both  Broadway  and  the  Bowery  with 
convenient  turnings  at  the  several  terminations  as  above  men- 
tioned, they  may  (unless  otherwise  directed  by  the  Common 
Council)  lay  down  a  second  track  on  each  of  the  above-men- 
tioned routes,  the  same  to  be  maintained  by  the  said  Company, 
subject  at  all  times  to  the  regulations  of  the  Common  Council, 
and  also  subject  to  the  obligation  of  removing  the  whole  or 
any  part  of  the  rail  ways  hereby  permitted  to  be  laid  down,  in 
case  the  Common  Council  shall  hereafter  see  fit  to  require  the 
same.    Provided,  however,  that  all  the  said  rails  shall  be  laid 
down  in  such  manner,  and  in  such  parts  of  the  said  streets,  as 
shall  be  approved  by  the  Street  Commissioner,  so  as  to  cause 
no  impediment  to  common  and  ordinary  use  of  the  streets  for 
all  other  purposes  ;  and  that  the  water-courses  of  the  streets  be 
left  free  and  unobstructed,  and  that  the  said  Company  shall  . 
pave  the  streets  in  and  about  the  rails  in  a  satisfactory  and  per- 
manent manner,  and  keep  the  width  of  twenty  feet  of  said  pav- 
ing, including  the  rails,  in  good  repair  at  all  times  during  the 
continuance  of  their  use  thereof;  and  provided,  further,  that  if 
at  any  time  after  the  said  rails  have  been  laid  down,  the  Com- 
mon Council  shall  deem  necessary,  and  shall  order  said  rails 
to  be  taken  up,  the  said  Rail  Road  Company  shall  cause  the 
pavement  of  the  streets  to  be  placed  in  good  and  sufficient  re- 
pair.   And,  provided,  further,  that  the  said  Company  have 
their  single  rail  tracks  above-mentioned  completed  on  or  before 


J 1 


he  first  of  May,  1834,  and  that  they  are  to  charge  and  receive, 
such  tolls,  rates,  or  fare  for  the  carrying  of  passengers  or  effects 
upon  the  said  rail  tracks  south  of  twenty-third  street  as  the 
Common  Council  may  prescribe. 

Resolved,  That  the  above  resolution  shall  not  be  considered 
as  binding  on  the  Common  Council,  nor  shall  the  same  go  into 
effect  until  the  said  Harhem  Rail  Road  Company  shall  first 
duly  execute,  under  their  corporate  seal  such  an  instrument  in 
writing,  promising,  covenanting,  and  agreeing,  on  their  part 
and  behalf,  to  stand  to,  abide,  and  perform  all  the  conditions 
and  provisions  in  the  said  resolution  contained,  as  the  Mayor 
and  the  Counsel  of  the  Board  shall  approve  of  by  certificate 
under  their  hands,  nor  until  such  instrument  shall  be  filed,  so 
certified,  in  the  comptroller's  office  of  this  city. 

"Adopted  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  May  2,  1832. 

"  Adopted  by  the  Board  of  Assistants,  May  7,  1832. 

"  Approved  by  the  Mayor,  May  10,  1S32," 

After  obtaining  from  the  state  and  city  legislatures  the  au- 
thority abovementioned,  the  Company  proceeded  with  energy 
and  good  faith  to  prosecute  their  enterprise.  The  route  of  their 
road  lies  in  the  rocky  bed  of  the  Fourth  avenue,  presenting 
physical  obstacles  of  no  ordinary  magnitude.  It  may  not  be- 
come the  directors  to  dwell  much  on  the  manner  in  which  they 
have  performed  this  part  of  their  duty.  Suffice  it  to  say,  these 
difficulties  have  been  met  and  vanquished,  so  that  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  Fourth  avenue  is  now  reduced  to  a  grade  nearly 
level  from  Union  Place  to  the  Harlaem  River,  and  so  will  re- 
main for  ever,  to  enrich  and  beautify  our  city.  The  owners 
of  lands  on  the  route,  with  few  exceptions,  sensible  of  the  be- 
neficial effects  of  this  undertaking,  have  accelerated  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Company,  by  voluntary  cessions  of  the  requisite 
land. 

The  capital  of  the  Company  is  8350,000,  all  subscribed, 
and  fifty  per  cent,  being  8175,000,  already  paid  in,  nearly  the 
whole  of  which  has  already  been  disbursed  in  grading  the 
avenue,  purchasing  machinery  and  materials,  and  laying  down 
rails  on  the  finished  sections.  Nearly  a  mile  of  single  track 
has  been  laid  in  the  paved  part  of  the  Bowery  ;  and  the  Com- 


12 


pany  had  indulged  the  belief,  that  the  visible  demonstration  of 
that  portion  of  the  road  had  effectually  dispelled  the  needless 
fears  of  its  opponents.  The  frightful  predictions  of  steam-car- 
riages furiously  propelled  through  the  street  upon  rails  elevated 
above  its  surface,  overturning  and  demolishing  travellers  and 
carriages,  had  all  proved  to  be  groundless  and  visionary.  The 
people  can  examine  this  for  themselves,  and  will  find  only  a  thin 
plate  of  iron,  lying  so  near  the  surface  of  the  pavement  as  to 
beliardly  visible.  They  will  find  the  street  newly  paved,  newly 
graded,  every  impediment  removed,  the  frequent  cross-gutters, 
formerly  so  inconvenient  and  uncomfortable,  now  arched  over 
and  covered ;  and,  in  fact,  the  whole  carriage-way  incom- 
parably improved  in  ease,  comfort,  and  safety.  Upon  these  thin 
rails  they  find  only  a  few  beautiful  carriages,  moving  without 
dust  or  danger,  and  occupying  less  space  than  is  now  required  for 
the  same  purpose  by  the  omnibus  coaches.  After  this  practical 
exhibition,  the  Company  did  hope  that  they  would  be  allowed 
to  finish  their  enterprise  without  further  molestation  ;  but  their 
just  expectations  have  been  disappointed.  For  several  weeks  an 
anonymous  map  or  diagram  has  been  most  industriously  circu- 
lated, fraught  with  the  most  palpable  misrepresentations.  Instead 
of  the  space,  aciualty  less  than  five  feet,  lying  between  the  rails, 
this  fanciful  picture  represents  the  company  as  monopolizing 
twenty-three  feet  of  the  road,  and  excluding  from  the  street  all 
other  vehicles,  and  the  most  persevering  efforts  have  been  made 
by  exhibiting  this  deceptive  representation,  to  kindle  in  the 
public  mind  feelings  hostile  to  our  enterprise.  Let  the  rail- 
track  now  laid  in  the  Bowery  be  examined,  [jet  it  be  measured. 
Their  single  rail-track  does  not  obstruct  any  part  of  the  street, 
and  never  will.  It  occupies  less  than  6  feet.  It  does  not  occupy 
23  feet,  and  never  will.  A  double  track  yaouM  occupy  but 
13  feet,  and  will  not,  if  laid  down,  in  the  slightest  degree  ob- 
struct the  free  use  of  the  road,  and  the  cars  will  occupy  much 
less  space  than  is  now  occupied  by  the  unwieldy  omnibus 
coaches,  which  virtually  monopolize  the  street.  The  Company 
have  not  laid  a  double  track  south  of  Prince-street,  and  they 
do  not  intend  to  do  so  until  the  people  themselves,  through  their 
representatives  in  the  common  council,  shall  declare  that  the 


13 


public  convenience  demands  it.  The  Company,  therefore,  re- 
quest only  that  their  track  may  be  measured,  and  compared 
with  the  anonymous  diagram  now  circulated  through  our  city, 
and  will  cheerfully  submit  the  diagram  and  its  inventors  to 
the  justice  of  the  public. 

But  admitting  the  utility  and  convenience  of  the  work,  an 
effort  has  been  made  to  excite  jealousy  by  the  cry  of  monopoly. 
How  can  that  be  a  monopoly  which  is  subjected  to  the  con- 
stant control  of  the  public?  The  public  govern  the  use  of  the 
road,  and  regulate  its  tolls.  What  more  could  they  do  if  they 
owned  the  work?  Can  the  public  construct  the  road  cheaper 
than  this  company  ?  Will  they  consent  to  take  nearly  half  a 
million  of  dollars  out  of  the  public  treasury,  to  defray  the  ex- 
pense ?  Will  it  not  be  a  wiser  policy  to  wait  until  the  work  is 
shown  to  be  profitable  ?  Is  the  value  of  this  pretended  mo- 
nopoly now  so  great  as  to  excite  jealousy  ?  Its  shares  are  fifty 
dollars  each,  and  have  been  paid  in  nearly  two  years.  They 
can  now  be  purchased  at  par.  Practical]}',  the  company  has 
no  monopoly.  Nor  have  they  legally  a  monopoly,  for  the  le- 
gislature may  at  any  moment  repeal  the  charter,  or  incorporate 
rival  companies.  The  common  council  may  regulate  and  re- 
duce its  profits,  and  may  at  any  time  terminate  its  very  ex- 
istence by  ordering  its  rails  to  be  removed. 

The  cartmen  and  hackmenof  our  city  are  abused  by  the  asser- 
tion, that  they  are  to  be  thrown  out  of  employment  by  means  of 
this  experiment.  The  supposition  is  both  unfair  and  unfounded. 
The  rail  cars  through  Broadway  and  the  Bowery  will  transport 
precisely  the  same  kind  of  freight  which  is  now  transported  in 
the  seventy  unwieldy  vehicles  which  already  almost  obstruct 
the  public  use  of  those  streets. 

The  whole  body  of  our  citizens  has  a  large  pecuniary  inte- 
rest in  maintaining  this  Harlaem  rail  road.  The  city  now  owns 
nearly  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  twelfth  ward,  inter- 
sected by  the  Fourth  avenue,  and  divided  into  about  2,500 
building  lots  of  full  size.  To  excavate  the  Fourth  avenue  and 
grade  it  to  Harloem  would  have  cost  the  city  at  least  $300,000. 
By  the  continuation  of  this  avenue,  to  be  made  at  the  sole  ex- 
pense of  the  company,  the  2500  building  lots  belonging  to 
the  city  have  been  doubled  in  value,  making  a  present  actual 


1 1 


gain  of  upwards  of  $200,000,  in  addition  to  the  $300,000 
saved  in  grading  the  avenue. 

Again — the  city  lias  another  deep  interest  in  maintaining 
this  road.  The  great  project  of  supplying  our  citizens  with 
pure  water  from  the  county  of  Westchester  is  rapidly  approach- 
ing its  final  execution.  The  recent  able  report  made  by  the 
committee  of  the  common  council,  places  it  beyond  a  doubt 
that  the  necessary  aqueduct  across  the  Harlem  river  must  be 
west  of  the  Fourth  avenue.  In  that  event  its  channel,  by 
means  of  pipes,  may  be  easily  and  cheaply  laid  under  the  sur- 
face of  this  avenue,  which  will  be  greatly  preferred  by  reason 
of  its  great  uniformity  of  graduation. 

Again — this  Company  are  bound  to  keep  more  than  half  of 
the  carriage-way  in  the  streets  through  which  their  rails  may 
be  laid  in  constant  repair,  and  the  city  treasury  will  thereby  an- 
nually save  a  large  sum  now  disbursed  in  repairing  the  ravages 
committed  by  the  heavy  loaded  omnibus  coaches. 

To  our  mechanics  the  rail  road  will  yield  the  most  valuable 
facilities.  The  upper  part  of  our  island,  being  speedily  and 
cheaply  approached,  will  become  the  seat  of  numerous  and 
extensive  manufacturing  establishments  ;  and  the  labour  and 
capital  now  employed  at  Newark  and  other  neighbouring  vil- 
lages, will  be  concentrated  in  our  own  city. 

But  the  advantages  of  this  rail  road  do  not  stop  here  ;  it 
opens  other  and  wider  prospects  of  incalculable  value  to  our 
metropolis.  We  take  pride  in  predicting  that  it  is  to  form  the 
main  trunk  of  a  mighly  system  of  internal  communication, 
whose  branches  are  to  extend  throughout  our  own  state, 
throughout  New-England,  and  the  whole  interior  of  the  West. 
Already  the  great  plan  is  beginning  to  develop  itself.  Branch- 
es, commencing  at  Albany,  have  already  extended  to  Saratoga, 
and  are  to  be  forthwith  continued  to  Lake  Champlain.  Ano- 
ther branch  from  Troy  to  the  state  of  Vermont ;  another  from 
the  Harlaem  river  to  Albany  and  Troy;  and  the  New-York 
and  Erie  rail  road,  commencing  at  the  Hudson  river  near  the 
northern  end  of  our  island,  and  extending  to  Lake  Erie,  and 
thence  through  the  valley  of  the  upper  lakes. 

And  where  must  all  the  passengers,  borne  on  these  gi- 


15 


gantic  avenues  of  internal  communication,  be  finally  con- 
centrated ?  Is  not  the  whole  of  the  accumulated  wealth  of 
our  vast  interior  to  be  poured  into  this  its  great  commercial  em- 
porium ?  And  will  not  this  our  city  rail  road  become  the  great 
central  conduit  through  which  these  rich  streams  of  prosperity 
are  destined  to  flow  ? 

Our  enterprise  does  not  merit  the  resentments,  jealousies, 
and  sectional  prejudices  sought  to  be  excited  against  it.  We 
know  and  feel,  and  therefore  claim,  that  we  are  labouring  to 
aggrandize  and  enrich  our  city ;  and  to  sustain  us  in  this  un- 
dertaking, we  solicit  the  countenance  and  support  of  every 
liberal  and  generous  mind. 

Already  we  are  behind  the  age.  Liverpool,  our  commer- 
cial rival,  has  brought  her  rail  road  not  only  into  her  city,  but 
along  her  docks.  Baltimore,  public-spirited,  enterprising,  and 
liberal,  has  introduced  her  rail  road  into  her  leading  streets, 
and  has  fostered  the  enterprise  by  a  donation  of  two  blocks  of 
land,  and  a  subscription  to  the  stock  from  her  city  treasury  of 
half  a  million  of  dollars.  With  noble  ardour  she  has  already 
marched  seventy  miles  towards  the  Ohio  river,  and  is  now 
penetrating  the  Alleghanies  in  quest  of  the  rich  commerce  of 
the  west.  Virginia,  too,  has  commenced  a  similar  work  ;  and 
South  Carolina  has  united  her  capital  with  the  Savannah  river, 
by  a  rail  road  140  miles  in  length.  Philadelphia,  aroused  by 
the  spirited  efforts  of  her  sister  cities,  has  graded  her  rail  road 
to  the  Susquehannah  river,  and,  discarding  at  once  all  anti- 
quated prejudices,  has  admitted  the  double  tracks  of  her  rail 
way  into  the  heart  of  her  city. 

By  an  ordinance  of  that  city,  passed  the  10th  of  January 
last,  it  was  enacted,  "  That  the  Philadelphia  and  Columbia 
rail  road  shall  be  continued  along  the  centre  of  Broad-street, 
from  the  north  side  of  Vine-street  to  the  south  side  of  Cedar- 
street ;  and  that  the  said  road  shall  be  constructed  with  double 
tracks,  of  the  common  width,  and  with  stone  sills  and  iron  rails, 
laid  in  proper  manner  throughout. 

"  Sect.  2.  And  be  it  further  ordained  and  enacted  by  the 
authority  aforesaid,  that  the  rails  of  the  said  road  shall  be  laid 
level  with  the  surface  of  the  stone  pavement,  and  that  no  de- 


16 


viation  shall  be  made  therefrom  so  as  to  derange  or  alter  the 
present  regulation  of  Broad-street,  except  that  the  stone  pave- 
ment may  be  raised  or  lowered  from  the  gutters  to  the  centre 
of  the  street,  so  as  to  afford  a  more  pjerfect  level  for  the  rail 
way ;  provided  the  same  can  be  done  without  injuring  the 
street,  interrupting  the  free  passage  of  the  water,  or  incom- 
moding the  travelling  thereon." 

The  Directors  of  the  New-York  and  Harlaem  Rail  Road 
Company,  therefore,  respectfully  submit  this  statement  to  the 
deliberate  consideration  of  their  fellow-citizens,  fully  relying 
on  their  intelligence,  liberality,  and  public  spirit.  If  this  en- 
terprise succeeds,  it  opens  prospects  for  our  city  of  incalculable 
extent  and  value.  Immediately  profitable  to  the  public,  it 
certainly  will  be.  Extravagantly  profitable  to  the  Company, 
subject  as  it  is  to  the  constant  government  and  control  of  the 
public,  it  never  can  be.  That  a  rail  way  communication  be- 
tween the  distant  portions  of  this  island,  will  and  must  be  main- 
tained, is  a  matter  of  certainty ;  for  our  population  will  de- 
mand to  be  transported  by  the  safest  mode  and  at  the  cheapest 
rate.  This  question  then  is  submitted  for  the  decision  of  our 
fellow-citizens  :  Shall  we  be  allowed  to  finish  this  work  at  our 
own  hazard  and  expense,  remaining  at  all  times  under  the  re- 
gulation of  the  public  authorities  ;  or  shall  the  burden  and  risk 
be  borne  by  the  City  Treasury,  adding  thereby  at  least  half  a 
million  of  dollars  to  the  taxes  of  the  people  ? 

New-  York,  February  14,  1833. 

By  order  of  the  Board  of  Directors, 

JOHN  MASON,  President. 

A.  C.  RAINETAUX,  Secretary. 


JxaU-Jtoab  ^j^^^v  1jroadway> 

^ewYork^  Harlaem  Rail  Road  G? 


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IEx  IGtbrts 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


~t '  ~Tort  nteuw  ^Am^ercU-m.  oj>  Je  lAanhatans 


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